It was a daunting task. Judah was in ruins and under the captivity of Babylon. But there was an opportunity to return to Judah to rebuild the city and communities. But doing that would require an exceptional level of sacrifices in many ways. Men and women would sacrifice finances, resources, time, and everything, to restore and rebuild that city! That city had done well, but lost its track and went into captivity.
But who can lead this restoration and rebirth? “Now Ezra had determined in his heart to study the law of the LORD , obey it, and teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel”. From that statement, there are many lessons here on how we can rebuild brands, companies and ventures.
1. Determination: Someone needs to believe that the brand or the company has lost its focus. Just like Judah which was prospering before it lost its way, and went into captivity, the brand has lost the customers, and its market share collapsed, swallowed by competitors. Just like Ezra who determined that he could restore Judah, it takes a determined person to drive transformation.
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2. Study: You cannot lead if you do not understand the market, the customers, and other important elements. Just as Ezra invested time to master the law for his people, you need to know what had worked, and not working, in order to proffer solutions to save the firm.
3. Teach: Yes, when you know the playbook, communicate it to the team, because everyone needs to know the roadmap. It is not enough that you know what has to be done, you must communicate because communication is the damp-proof-course (i.e. the foundation) for all high-performing teams.
Different Roles in Transforming Firms
Another lesson on the Ezra story is the different roles played by many team members, indicating that during corporate transformation, many roles are required. Zerubbabel led the reconstruction of the temple; Nehemiah rebuilt the walls while Ezra, the scribe, anchored the restoration of worship.
Analogously, creating a new product, taking it to the market and remaking a company culture could have many players. But in all these activities, these men had a strong executive sponsor: Persian King Artaxerxes who approved and supported them.
For great projects, Executive Project Sponsors are needed in companies: ‘A project sponsor is a senior management role that provides resources, support, and leadership to the project team and generally “owns” the project. This person also serves as a link between the project manager and other decision-making groups.’
Make yourself available: be determined, master the playbooks, communicate the roadmap and #LEAD that brand or that company into victory of growing market share and profitability. And seek for that executive sponsor to improve your odds of success. Happy Sunday.
Ndubuisi Ekekwe was a Unit Leader, Scripture Union Nigeria, at Secondary Technology School, Ovim, Abia State
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Ref: Book of Ezra
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The nation state like Nigeria and many others across Africa need this sort of transformation more, much more than any corporate entity here. The land is already in ruins, and it’s desperately yearning for its Ezra and his team.